You Then, You Now
by writersandwizards
Summary: After the dust settles and the sky clears, Link takes a moment to collect himself and what's left of his memory. Upon seeing Zelda, he realizes, does he really remember everything? Breath of the Wild Spoilers!


"Do you really remember me?"

The wind brushed up her hair at just the right time, and in that moment Link felt that he should've left his memories behind, because seeing this for the first time would've truly knocked him to his knees.

Seeing Zelda alive and speaking to him felt like something he shouldn't be witnessing. Not as if he didn't believe he would see her again, but just every single thing that had happened since he'd woken up had felt so surreal that this wouldn't be any different.

Truthfully, he always felt like something was missing from him. Not just from his memory, but from his person. As he had pieced together the last months of his life before the great slumber he had been under- he realized that this missing thing was a person, Zelda. She had become so important to him that when he recalled any memory, he almost had to _try_ and replicate those same feelings. Akin to when someone says you've been a place before, and you insist you do remember it, and you do, but something just doesn't feel quite right. Watching and seeing something for the second time isn't as thrilling as the first. Recalling a memory that already happens even though you were a part of it made him feel separate and on the outside looking in. Link hoped that when he saw Zelda, he would feel whole again.

Zelda stepped closer to him, and he regarded her calmly, but his heart continued to ring in his ears. If he weren't so high on adrenaline and the sheer dumb luck of survival- he really would've passed out from the exertion.

"I do." He choked out, voice rusty with the few words he spared few people but Zelda smiled, because Zelda understood.

As she continued walking towards him, he found his own feet moving to meet her. With each step he took, he realized he could feel it, the thrill he was so worried about not feeling. He remembered her, and this emotion was genuine. He remembered her soul as she remembered his. As he got closer, it was as if each step unlocked another secret he told her, another laugh they had shared. Warmth and goodness and kindness radiated from the energy crackling between them, and he regarded Urbosa's fury for a moment to make sure he wasn't using it.

Maybe there was something about the way their fates lined up to cross with one another's, or maybe it was just the thing people pray to the goddess for. But in this moment after a hundred years of not seeing the person he was so sure was missing from him, he realized that his need for her was much more than an assignment or a duty. Link realized with every step that he had loved her from the moment he trusted her enough to explain why he most often didn't bother, and even when she had snapped at him and became angry and made him see red on some days he had loved her still.

And even when she begged him to leave her behind and was furious with her that Zelda would even ask that of him, he loved her then too.

She reached him, and he wanted so badly to touch her. Link was courageous, but his fatal flaw was his lack of faith in his heart. He really wanted to rush up to her and hug her and swing her around to display his emotions loudly and with vigour like he knew she wanted. He just didn't have the energy right now. He made a note to do it when he did have it, and he wouldn't stop until she laughed so hard she was pink in the face and glowing with happiness that he knew she deserved after more than a lifetime of the opposite.

Instead he raised his arm slowly, and reached towards her hand. Zelda – the more outwardly emotional one understood immediately and met him halfway, grasping his hand in her smaller one.

He sighed audibly, letting his shoulders sag and the bow in his other hand clatter to the ground, sacred light going out as the extent of his power depleted. The feel of her hand released something inside him that was wound too tight for too long. Now he could rest, now he could relax knowing that Zelda was safe, Zelda was real, and Zelda was right in front of him.

Zelda noticed as soon as his hand went limp and when Link fell forward as his eyes fluttered closed, she caught him. Carrying his weight as best as she could under her lethargic body. She adjusted him so that his head rested in the crook of her neck, and grasped him around the middle as best she could to support him.

"Rest, Link." She whispered into his hair. "Even after a hundred years of sleep, I guess you do deserve to sleep in a little more."

Not quite unconscious yet, he lifted his head to look into her eyes and smiled lazily. She gasped a little, and he knew it was because he hardly smiled, but there was nobody around to see this exterior he rarely showed. And if Link was being honest, even if there was someone around to watch, he didn't care. He was alive, she was happy, and they were together at last.

"Zelda." Link murmured, and finally let his head drop, too tired to continue holding it.

Zelda rested her chin atop his head and exhaled. Deciding that words would be too much opted to look towards the sky instead. Silently praying her thanks towards whichever goddess decided their world was worth it.


End file.
